Musings

You’re out sightseeing. A man in full battle regalia, or at least a respectable-looking suit, stands in the middle of a park commemorating something important. A few yards away, in the nearest fountain, two naked or mostly naked women are draped over an urn. Why do male statues usually get to wear the pants? Yes,…

There are requests. And then there are requests that come with a quiet little trap inside them. You know the kind. Someone asks you to give up your time, money, comfort, or plans so their life can become easier. The request is usually presented as simple. Reasonable. Barely worth questioning. But when you look closer,…

There is a quiet kind of joy in finishing something. Not the bright, exciting rush of starting. Starting is easy to love. Starting is full of promise. A new idea has energy. It has possibilities. It still glows a little because it has not yet met the hard middle where things get messy. Finishing is…

Looking at black-and-white photos and those rich Kodachrome colors of my family, I keep coming back to one thought: Those pictures were intentional. The photo of my mother as an infant on the roof of their East Boston cold-water flat was not casual. Somebody chose that moment. Somebody posed her. Somebody framed that shot. I’d…

A chipped mug. A red coat. A cracked sidewalk. Sometimes the smallest detail does more work than a whole paragraph of explanation. That is one of the little miracles of writing. When people first start trying to bring scenes and characters to life, they often think more detail is the answer. So they describe everything.…

Getting stuck is one of the most irritating parts of writing. You sit down, sure you had a good idea five minutes ago. Maybe even a great one.And now? Nothing.Just you, a blinking cursor, and a sudden urge to do literally anything else. Clean a drawer. Wipe down the counters. Fold a load of laundry.…

I finished my first novel, The Ashes He Carried. Well… it’s finished-ish. I wrote the whole thing. The words poured out. I could hear my main character’s voice, feel his ache, and follow him all the way to his hard-won happy ending. I felt like I spent time with the characters and was really in…

You may have read, “Do Things While You Can.” One of the things I talked about is deciding to say yes. Here’s the other side of that coin. To say yes, you also have to say no. Over the years, I have written hundreds of posts to help small business owners start and grow profitable…